Machines for working metal products are known, which work one or more products at a time.
Such work machines are served by stores where bundles of products are disposed and from which the products to be loaded to the work machine are picked up on each occasion.
The operation of picking up and extracting individual products from the bundle is often very difficult since the oblong products, which can reach even 12 meters and more in length, arrive loose, tangled and twisted with each other.
The pick-up and loading operation of the work machine is performed manually by an operator, from whom a great effort is required, with risks for his safety and slowdowns in the operating cycle, thus reducing the productivity of subsequent processes.
There are also known apparatuses for handling metal products comprising magnetic lifting means which, by magnetic action, lift a plurality of products from a bundle, taking them by their centerline or at one end thereof.
The remaining part of the metal product, which normally remains tangled in the bundle, is subsequently and progressively extracted with extractor means.
Due to the great effort required to extract the metal product from the bundle, the metal product can be deformed irregularly with respect to its rectilinear extension, compromising the final geometry of the bent product.
Furthermore, another disadvantage of such handling devices is that a great effort is required to completely extract the metal product from the bundle, and long cycle times and complex and expensive equipment are also required.
Further examples of handling apparatuses for metal products such as reinforcement bars are described in documents JP-A-H06.1664429, EP-A-1.375.022, JP-A-S57.189924, FR-A-2.246.477, U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,551, and EP-A-1,736,276 which, however, are not able to ensure that the metal products arriving from a bundle are picked up separately.
In fact, the particular conformation of the handling apparatuses described in these documents makes it extremely complex to pick up the metal products precisely because of the great length and overlap to which the bars are subjected when wound in a bundle.
In these known solutions, it is particularly complex to avoid overlapping the metal products in order to prevent their subsequent removal in groups.
Furthermore, picking up the metal products with the devices described in the patent documents described above is particularly ineffective since the gripping devices do not guarantee the grip of a single metal product.
One purpose of the present invention is to obtain a handling apparatus for at least one metal product from the bundle which automates the extraction activity without requiring the intervention of operators, which is simple, cheap, requires little or no maintenance and reduced initial investment.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a handling apparatus which allows to extract the metal products from the bundle without excessive effort and with reduced cycle times.
Another purpose of the present invention is to pick up and load metal products into a work machine, preventing the metal products from being deformed.
Another purpose is to perfect a method for automatically loading at least one metal product from a bundle of products and making them available to a work machine.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.